Count of the Nine Estates Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Anatomy of the Cards
• Setup
• Gameplay
• Building
• End of the Round
• End of the Era
• Scoring

Components

9 double-sided Structure Cards 9 single-sided Estate Cards

Provide your own way to keep score.

Anatomy of the Cards

Structure Card — Each Structure Card shows a Structure (with the resources required to build it), a resource available on an active card, a resource available once the Structure is built, and the Structures printed on the opposite side of the card.

Estate Card — Each Estate Card shows the Card Type, the points scored after the Era when it is built (shown in a shield), the Estate itself, and the resources and Structures required to build the Estate.

Setup

1. Separate the 9 Estate Cards by their type (Peasant, Clergy, Nobility). Shuffle each type, and deal them out in a 3x3 grid with Nobility at the top, Church in the middle, and Peasant at the bottom.

2. Form a deck using the 9 Structure Cards, with the square-cornered sides all face up. Rotate about half of the cards 180° and then shuffle the deck.

3. Select one of the two resources on the top card of the deck. Place the deck in landscape orientation with the chosen resource at the top edge.

4. Slide the top card of the deck to the right to show two cards side by side. Leave room for a discard pile to the right of these cards, and for a build area.

Gameplay

The game follows your county through two Eras of development. In each Era you will manage your resources to build Structures and Estates.

An Era consists of one or more rounds during which you play through the deck in a series of turns.

Each turn presents 2-3 active cards (the just-revealed top card of the deck at the left, the center card that was slid off the deck, and the top card of the discard pile at the right, if any).

During your turn, you may build one of the active cards' Structures or one of the available Estates (see Building).

If you do not build anything (either by choice or because you do not have the resources), flip the center active card over (to the side with rounded corners) and place it onto the discard pile.

If the center active card was built into a Structure or flipped onto the discard pile, slide the top card of the deck to replace it.

If any cards remain in the deck, begin the next turn.

Building

To build a Structure or Estate, you must pay its building costs with resources from unused Structures and Estates that you've built, and the topmost resources on the active cards. Gold can also be used in place of Food, Wood, Stone or Ore, but not Work Crew. If a Structure shows two resources separated by a slash, either one of those resources may be used.

If a Structure or Estate also lists one or more Structures beside the building costs, those Structures must already be in your build area.

Estates must be built in order: Peasant first, then Clergy, and lastly Nobility.

Pay the building costs of the chosen Structure or Estate as follows:

• If the top card of the discard pile, a built Structure, or a built Estate was used to provide a resource, tilt it slightly to indicate it has been used. Tilted cards may not be used again until they are reset.
• If one of the other active cards was used, flip it over and place it on the discard pile.

When you build a Structure, rotate it so the chosen Structure is upright and place it in your build area. (If you use the topmost resource on an active card to build a Structure on that same card, do not tilt the Structure that you build.)

Create a new column of Structures for every round played.

When you build an Estate, place it in your build area. Then discard all other Estate Cards in the same row and column as the built card; they may not be built this game.

End of the Round

When the deck runs out of cards, reset any tilted Structures (but not tilted Estates). Reset the discard pile if any cards were tilted, and flip it over to form the deck for the next round.

You may choose one of the following:

• Shuffle the entire deck (but do not rotate or flip any cards).
• Rotate the entire deck 180° to use those cards' other resources.
• Next round, you may rotate one card in the deck 180° to use its other resource.

End of the Era

You may choose to end an Era at any time, for example if you are unable to build anything or if you want to limit the number of rounds played.

After the first Era, record your score (see Scoring). Then move any built Estates to the side of your build area, resetting them to show their resources are available to use once in the second Era. Begin the second Era starting at step 2 of Setup.

After the second Era, record your score. Your final score is the sum of your scores from both Eras.

Scoring

After each Era, calculate your score as follows:

• Score 1 Point for each Structure.
• Score 1 Point for each duplicate Structure (for example, score 2 additional Points if you build three of a particular Structure).
• Score the points shown in the shields of any Structures/Estates. They only score in the Era when they were built.
• Subtract 2 Points for each round played in that Era (including incomplete rounds).

Your final score is the sum of your scores from both Eras. Rank your final score after both Eras using the table below:

Score	Result
26+	The King is overthrown!
22-25	The King is worried.
18-21	The King is impressed.
14-17	The King is unmoved.
0-13	The King is displeased.